The world according to Al Davis Raiders owner vents on PSL snafu, defends prices

Art Spander, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, November 1, 1995

OAKLAND - It was Al Davis pinched between euphoria and paranoia, a man with a million opinions and a lot of grudges.

It was Al Davis challenging authority, accepting responsibility and reminding us that most of all, the idea is to just win, baby.

The man who is the Raiders was on Tuesday morning the arbiter on everything from the NFL to PSLs, allowing that he sees eye-to-eye with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and continues to go head-to-head against the 49ers' Carmen Policy.

In an hour-and-a-half discourse, Davis sat down in a room deep within the Oakland Coliseum to offer the following observations:

* The sale of personal seat licenses by Oakland to finance the expansion of the Coliseum was screwed up by the people originally in charge, and the current lag in sales is understandable.

* Policy, the 49ers' president, did everything possible to keep the Raiders from returning to Oakland. "But I like the competition," said Davis. "We took the chance. They're the champs, aren't they?"

* "There are forces at work in the league that didn't want us in Oakland."

* Mike White, indeed, coaches the Raiders, but as the man who hired him, Davis will give all the "assistance" he feels is needed.

* The NFL is growing too large.

* If the Raiders are charging more for tickets than any other team, "I've never been anywhere yet that the price wasn't too high."

Davis, whose title is president of the general partner, made the journey north from the team's El Segundo, Los Angeles County, headquarters to parry with journalists he mostly had avoided. Between references to Bosnian politics and West Coast offenses, Davis insisted all is well on the team's return to Oakland after 13 years in Los Angeles. The fans are passionate. The players are resolute. The media are attentive.

The old practice field at the end of Oakland Airport will be expanded and rebuilt, a state of the art facility.

Plans for the expansion of the Coliseum from 54,000 to 62,500 - down a trifle from the initial goal of 65,000 - are now complete and work on the improvements already is under way.

Davis insisted that while others may have been disappointed the Raiders didn't sell all their PSLs and season tickets immediately, "I think we envisioned what is happening could possibly happen."

What's happening is the Raiders have sold only 37,000 of the available 46,000 PSLs. A failure to sell out will leave the City of Oakland responsible for the difference in cost of improvements. But Davis reminded that the situation was botched at the start, some people sending in three applications, some applications being rejected.

"We know what we have to do," said Davis about the PSLs,

"and the Raiders will get it done. We'll come up here as soon as the practice facility is ready (tentatively March) and get out and help the Oakland Marketing Association. There were mistakes made, no question."

Make no mistake, Al Davis, 66, is not short on confidence or ideas.

The Cowboys' Jones, according to Davis, was absolutely within his rights to sign private contracts with Pepsi-Cola and Nike - "And Nike wanted us first and still wants us."

Arguments that the league must divide up profits to keep small-market franchises in business are specious, he said.

"The league line," remarked Davis, "is, "How are the Green Bays going to do?' Well, who was the first one signing Reggie White? My good friend (and former employee) Ron Wolf of Green Bay. Green Bay has 125 private boxes all sold and is building more. What matters is the facility."

What matters to Davis is victory. He likes this Oakland team that's 6-2 coming off a bye, but worries about the intensity the next two weekends against Cincinnati and the New York Giants. "After that, the games against Dallas, San Diego, Pittsburgh, will take care of themselves."

And while you may call them the Oakland Raiders, Davis thinks of them as the Whole Earth Raiders. "The Raiders are global," he said. "Until two years ago we sold the most merchandise. For 10 years, we were either one, two or three (in sales). Jerry Jones made a determination and worked his tail off to get Dallas higher. They (the NFL) have no right to sue him."

Davis, of course, is suing the NFL, trying to prevent the league from taking money from the PSLs, which they claim are profits that must be divided.

"Our league is in almost three or four factions," said Davis. "You think Yugoslavia is separated, you ought to get into our league. There's a seven-man finance committee I'm dealing with for Hollywood Park about the creation of a new stadium."

That was last spring, when the Raiders still were in L.A.

"The committee says I should take another team in the stadium. I say no. The experience of the Giants and Jets in the same place is traumatic. The committee says it won't do anything to help us unless I take another team. But they want me to accept a 20-year lease and the other team only has to take a five-year lease.

"And on that finance committee is Chicago, who wants a new stadium, Seattle, talking about moving, Houston, which is supposedly moving to Nashville, Art Modell of the Browns and the 49ers. You don't think they weren't thinking about themselves?"

Or that Al Davis isn't thinking about himself?&lt;

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